Structural bearing configuration and method of making same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates generally to structural bearing assemblies and to methods to make same. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges that are more easily replaced when necessary.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This patent application is a non-provisional of and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/804,484 filed Feb. 12, 2019 and titled “Structural Bearing Configuration and Method of Making Same.” The complete text of this application is hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to structural bearing assemblies and to methods to make same. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges that are more easily replaced when necessary.

BACKGROUND

As is known to those in the industry, a bridge bearing is a component of a bridge which typically provides a resting surface between a suitable bridge substructure and a bridge's superstructure. The purpose of a bearing is to allow controlled movement of one or more aspects of a structure thereby reducing the stresses involved. Movement types can be, for example, thermal expansion or contraction, rotational or movement from other sources such as seismic activity. There are several different types of bridge bearings which are used depending on a number of different factors including the bridge span. Given the importance thereof, bridge bearings must not only be inspected but must also be periodically replaced, as needed and/or required, in order to maintain the structural integrity of a bridge. Replacement and/or repair is necessitated by the fact that the numerous bridge bearings present in most, in not all, bridges have a lifespan that is typically much shorter than other major and minor bridge components.

Adding replaceability to structural bearing assemblies typically involves bolted connections, anchor rods with coupler nuts and extra plates that significantly increase cost. Therefore, it would be advantageous to eliminate additional plates and other costly details and still accommodate ease of installation and replacement with minimal jacking of the superstructure.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates generally to structural bearing assemblies and to methods to make same. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges that are more easily replaced when necessary.

In one embodiment, the present invention comprises a bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the upper side of a bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure; a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate; and at least one bearing positioned between the underside of the upper plate and the upper side of the lower plate, the bearing being formed from a material designed to handle movements and/or absorb vibrations, wherein the bridge bearing assembly is at least secured to the upper side of the bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure; and at least two anchoring rods designed to secure the lower plate to the upper side of the bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure.

In another embodiment, the present invention comprises a bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of the upper plate; a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate; and at least two anchoring rods designed to secure the bridge bearing assembly to an upper side of a bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure for fixed or guided bearings.

In still another embodiment, the present invention comprises a bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of the upper plate; and a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Operation of the present teachings may be better understood by reference to the detailed description taken in connection with the following illustrations. These appended drawings form part of this specification, and written information in the drawings should be treated as part of this disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a bridge bearing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates plan views of the plates of the bridge bearing of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate two views of a bridge bearing according to another embodiment of the present invention; a fixed (no movement) style bearing is shown with a guided (unidirectional movement) bearing being similar, but utilizing slotted holes for anchorage.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the bridge bearing; in a free (multi-directional) bearing configuration

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a plate for use with the bridge bearing of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present teachings, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional changes may be made without departing from the respective scope of the present teachings. As such, the following description is presented by way of illustration only and should not limit in any way the various alternatives and modifications that may be made to the illustrated embodiments and still be within the spirit and scope of the present teachings.

As used herein, the words “example” and “exemplary” mean an instance, or illustration. The words “example” or “exemplary” do not indicate a key or preferred aspect or embodiment. The word “or” is intended to be inclusive rather an exclusive, unless context suggests otherwise. As an example, the phrase “A employs B or C,” includes any inclusive permutation (e.g., A employs B; A employs C; or A employs both B and C). As another matter, the articles “a” and “an” are generally intended to mean “one or more” unless context suggest otherwise.

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional changes may be made without departing from the respective scope of the invention. Moreover, features of the various embodiments may be combined or altered without departing from the scope of the invention. As such, the following description is presented by way of illustration only and should not limit in any way the various alternatives and modifications that may be made to the illustrated embodiments and still be within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The present invention relates generally to structural bearing assemblies and to methods to make same. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges that are more easily replaced when necessary.

Initially, there are three major types of bridge bearings: (1) elastomeric bearings; (2) High Load Multi-Rotational (HLMR) bearings; and (3) steel bearings. These bearing categories are sufficient to cover the vast majority of structures in the national bridge inventory. Special bridges may require different bearings. As such, the above list is not meant to be exhaustive as additional types of bearings such as seismic isolation bearings exist. Additional information regarding various bridge bearings can be found in AASHTO/NSBA Steel Bridge Collaboration G 9.1—2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

As can be seen in the various embodiments illustrated in the Figures, there are a wide range of various bridge bearing embodiments that exist. It should be noted that the present invention is not solely limited to just the bridge bearing embodiments disclosed in the attached Figures, but rather can be broadly applied to a wide range of bridge bearing embodiments.

Adding replaceability to structural bearing assemblies typically involves bolted connections, anchor rods with coupler nuts and extra plates that significantly increase the costs associated therewith. There are other methods such as four sided recesses, and more. Given that most bridges can have a large number of bearings, any technique that can reduce complexity and/or cost is invaluable. Thus, it is therefore advantageous to eliminate additional plates and other costly details and still accommodate ease of installation and replacement with minimal jacking of the superstructure.

In one embodiment, the key features of the present invention and the one or more methods associated therewith, include: (i) threaded or pressed fit pintles that provide horizontal fixity in all directions or in one single direction, or even only two directions, through use of holes or slots in the upper or lower plate assemblies; (ii) a plurality of recesses formed in upper and/or lower plates—for example, one such non-limiting example is three or four-sided recesses (depth can vary) in one or more of the upper and/or lower plates of a bearing assembly with accompanying bolted keeper plates that lock the bearing component in place without rigidly bonding it to the plates; and (iii) bearings that can accommodate slopes through beveling an upper plate, beveling bearing material, or through optional beveled recess, depending on a customer's preference.

In light of the above, the present invention permits bearing plates that are designed for easy placement and replacement of bearing components located therebetween. In one embodiment of the present invention, the design can utilize pintles threaded or press fit into the upper or lower plates that extend into holes or slots in the adjacent plate to provide fixity against any horizontal movements (holes), or fixity in one direction and permits movement in the other (slots). In such an instance, the top and/or bottom plates may or may not have recesses that contain the bearing (bearing can be laminated elastomeric bearings, fabric bearings, steel or bronze bearings, urethane bearings, or any other material that can be designed to handle compression and accommodate rotation and/or movement). Thus, in one embodiment, the recess(s) contain the bearing in the plates without the need for bolting, bonding, or other means of mechanically fastening the bearing to the upper/sole plate or lower/masonry plate, where the recess can be two, three or four sided, depending on what is necessary for replacement based on any suitable jacking limitations. In the instance of two or three sided recesses with one or two open sides, necessary to slide the bearing out, a permanent keeper plate(s) is bolted into the open end of the recess to contain the bearing. Replacement of such a bearing is competently handled by removing the keeper plate(s) and jacking the structure a minimum amount to release compression on the bearing assembly to where the bearing can be removed and replaced. The keeper plate(s) are then re-attached to the upper and/or lower plates to complete replacement.

In light of the above, reference to the following Figures detail one such embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a bearing assembly 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an optional upper/sole plate 102 (shown as embedded in a concrete girder 110, which alternatively could also be welded to a support beam and/or steel girder, plate 102 can be attached by any other suitable means such as bolts, rivets, etc. based on the type of girder in use,) and a lower/masonry plate 104 having positioned therebetween a bearing 106. As illustrated in FIG. 1, bearing assembly 100 has two or more anchor rods 108, or some other type of anchorage system (bolt, coupler, shear studs, etc.), to permit the connection of lower/masonry plate 104 to a desired anchor point, steel girder, abutment, etc. Where sole plate 102 is present, two or more studs or some other alternative shear device 112 can be utilized to make sure sole plate 102 is adequately connected to the concrete girder shown 110, or connected through some other means to a support beam and/or steel girder. Upper/sole plate 102, if present, can further optionally be beveled and/or sloped as needed to permit matching of the slope of the structure to the nature of the slope required by the orientation of the bearing assembly being replaced. As further illustrated in FIG. 1, bearing assembly 100 can optionally include two or more shear pins 114 to resist horizontal forces. Also, lower/masonry plate 104 can, in one embodiment, further comprise a keeper notch 116 and two or more bolts 118 designed to further permit proper positioning and seating of bearing 106. The nature of the bearing 106 is not limited to any one specific type of bearing material, but rather can be formed from any suitable bearing material that is typically utilized in any type of structural bearing such as an elastomeric material. FIG. 2 illustrates plan view of the upper/sole plate 102 and the lower, or masonry, plate 104.

In one embodiment, upper/sole plate 102, lower/masonry plate 104, anchor rods 108, studs 112 (or their equivalents) and shear pins 114 can all independently be formed from any suitable metal or metal alloy (e.g., steel, stainless steel, etc.) utilizing a corrosion-resistant metal or corrosion-resistant coating.

Turning to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 4, a bearing assembly 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention comprises of three different styles of bearing assemblies that are chosen dependent on the movement requirements for the structure in which the bearing assembly is utilized. FIG. 3A illustrates an embodiment that illustrates a fixed (no movement) bearing assembly of the present invention that utilizes a plurality of holes through shear blocks 214. Similarly, a guided (unidirectional) style of the bearing assembly of the present invention could utilize slotted holes (not shown, but noted in FIG. 3B) through shear blocks 214. The fixed and guided style of the bearing assembly of the present invention comprises an upper/sole plate 202 (shown attached to the bottom of concrete girder 204 by welding thereto embedded plate 220 or could be attached to a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder by some other suitable attachment means), a keeper/lower plate 206 positioned under the upper/sole plate 202 secured to the upper/sole plate 202 via a suitable number of bolts (or other comparable securing hardware) 218, a shear block 214 positioned under the upper/sole plate 202, and optional embedded plate 220 above the upper/sole plate (depending on the type of girder being used). FIG. 4 illustrates a free (multi-directional) style bearing assembly of the present invention, comprising an upper/sole plate 222 (shown attached to the bottom of concrete girder 204 shear studs or could be attached to a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder by some other suitable attachment means), and a keeper/lower plate 206 positioned under the upper/sole plate 222. Upper/sole plate 222 is detailed separately in FIG. 5. Bearing assembly 200 or 224 can similarly utilize recesses and keeper plate configurations as mentioned above. Bearing 208 is made from any suitable material that can withstand high load weights and/or high vibration loads associated with large infrastructure objects (i.e., bridges). In one embodiment, bearing 208 or upper/sole plate can be formed to having any desired slope in order to accommodate the structure grade. As illustrated in FIG. 3A, bearing assembly 200 has two or more anchor rods 212, or some other type of coupling/securing hardware, to permit the connection of the bearing assembly 200 to a substructure or other support structure 210 via two or more shear blocks 214. Shear blocks 214 can be formed from any suitable material such as a metal material, or a combination of multiple materials, etc.

Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 4, bearing assembly 224 has an upper/sole plate 222 secured to the bottom of concrete girder 204, (or support beam and/or steel girder) via a suitable number of shear studs 216 (or other comparable securing hardware or a weld), and keeper/lower plate 206 is secured to the upper/sole plate 222 via a suitable number of bolts (or other comparable securing hardware), 218. Keeper/lower plate 206 is designed to hold the bearing 208 in position where contacting the plate surface without the need to bond or mechanically fasten the bearing 208 to the upper/sole plate 222.

Via the combination of upper/sole plate 202 (or upper/sole plate 222 depending on the style of bearing in use), keeper/lower plate 206, bearing 208, anchor rods 212 and shear blocks 214 (if required, depending on the style of bearing in use), a concrete beam 204 (or support beam and/or steel girder) can be mounted to any desired substructure or other anchoring structure 210 in a manner to permit a specified/desired amount of movement between bearing points of the structure 210. Turning to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 illustrates an upper/sole plate 222 and keeper/lower plate 206, where keeper/lower plate 206 is a formed from multiple detachable strips of material.

In one embodiment, upper/sole plate 202 or 222, keeper/lower plate 206, anchor rods 212, shear blocks 214 (if required) and studs 216 can all independently be formed from any suitable metal or metal alloy (e.g., steel, stainless steel, etc.) utilizing a corrosion-resistant metal or corrosion-resistant coating.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, it is to be understood that the present invention is not to be limited to just the embodiments disclosed, but that the invention described herein is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the claims hereafter. The claims as follows are intended to include all modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the claims or the equivalent thereof. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the upper side of a bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure; a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate; and at least one bearing positioned between the underside of the upper plate and the upper side of the lower plate, the bearing being formed from a material designed to handle movements and/or absorb vibrations, wherein the bridge bearing assembly is at least secured to the upper side of the bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure; and at least two anchoring rods designed to secure the lower plate to the upper side of the bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure.
 2. The bridge bearing of claim 1, wherein the upper plate or upper side of the bearing is beveled and/or sloped to permit matching of any slope required by the orientation of the bridge bearing assembly being replaced.
 3. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least two shear pins designed to operatively connect the upper plate to the lower plate to resist horizontal forces.
 4. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least two anchoring rods are threaded anchoring rods, swedged anchor rods, couplers, connection bolts or any combination thereof.
 5. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the upper plate, the lower plate and the at least two anchoring rods are all independently formed from any suitable metal or metal alloy that utilizes one or more corrosion resistant materials or one or more corrosion resistant coatings.
 6. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one bearing is formed from a bearing material.
 7. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 1, further comprising a notch formed in the upper side of the lower plate or lower side of the upper plate that acts to permit optimal seating of the at least one bearing on the upper side of the lower plate or lower side of the upper plate.
 8. A bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of the upper plate; a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate; and at least two anchoring rods designed to secure the bridge bearing assembly to an upper side of a bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure for fixed or guided bearings.
 9. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 8, wherein the upper plate or top of bearing is beveled and/or sloped to permit matching of any slope required by the orientation of the bridge bearing assembly being replaced
 10. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 8, further comprising at least two shear blocks designed work with the at least two anchoring rods to operatively connect the bridge bearing assembly to the upper side of the bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure for fixed guided bridge bearing styles.
 11. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 8, wherein the at least two shear blocks are formed from steel or some other combination of material.
 12. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 8, wherein the at least two anchoring rods are threaded anchoring rods, swedged anchor rods, couplers, connection bolts or any combination thereof
 13. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 8, wherein the upper plate, the lower plate and the at least two anchoring rods are all independently formed from any suitable metal or metal alloy that utilizes one or more corrosion resistant materials or one or more corrosion resistant coatings.
 14. A bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of the upper plate; and a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate.
 15. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 14, wherein the upper plate or top of bearing is beveled and/or sloped to permit matching of any slope required by the orientation of the bridge bearing assembly being replaced
 16. The bridge bearing assembly of claim 14, wherein the upper plate and the lower plate are all independently formed from any suitable metal or metal alloy that utilizes one or more corrosion resistant materials or one or more corrosion resistant coatings. 